INDIANS OPEN OVC WITH OT HEARTACHE; TENNESSEE ST. HITS LATE SHOT, WINS 79-77

Fans attending Thursday night's Ohio Valley Conference basketball opener might have left the Show Me Center disappointed that Southeast Missouri State University's Indians didn't come away with a victory.

But the 4,704 on hand surely must feel like they got their money's worth.

In a thrilling game that featured impressive, clutch play by both teams, Tennessee State came up with the biggest play at the end of overtime to hand the Indians a stunning 79-77 setback.

Southeast fell to 3-2 overall and 0-1 in OVC play while TSU improved to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the league.

"The ebb and flow of that game was unbelievable," said TSU coach Frankie Allen. "It was like a February game.

"Both teams hit so many big shots. It was a great effort by both teams. SEMO is playing so well this year."

The biggest shot of all was hit by TSU's Seth Huber, a 6-foot-5 senior guard.

Southeast was clinging to a 77-76 lead in the closing seconds of overtime. The Indians had the ball and were trying to milk the entire shot clock before attempting a shot which, make or miss, would have given TSU only about five seconds to go the length of the court.

But the Indians committed a turnover with just under 10 seconds left before they could even attempt a shot.

Back came TSU, which was scrambling to try and get off a decent shot. The ball ultimately wound up in the hands of Huber, who was stationed in the right corner behind the 3-point line near the baseline.

With two Southeast defenders running at Huber to try and bother his shot, the Tigers' long-range specialist let fly with a high-arcing jumper that settled into the basket with just .5 seconds remaining, putting TSU ahead 79-77.

"I've never made a (game-winning) shot like that before," said Huber. "I just caught the ball and shot it. I didn't know how much time was left. The good Lord was with me and it went in."

But the Tigers couldn't celebrate right away. Somewhat incredibly, the Indians very nearly forced a second overtime even though they had less than a second to work with.

Calvert White fired a pass the length of the court that somehow got through to David Montgomery on the other end. Montgomery scooped up an underhand shot from in close that somehow beat the buzzer, but TSU's Kevin Samuel was there to swat it away as the buzzer sounded.

Some Southeast supporters thought Samuel's block might have been goaltending, but it appeared as if the officials correctly ruled the block clean.

"Either team could have won tonight," Allen said. "We just happened to get the last shot."

Allen then smiled and corrected himself.

"Actually, I guess they got the last shot and we almost had another overtime," he said.

Southeast coach Gary Garner, emotionally drained after the game, had plenty of praise for both squads.

"Our kids really played hard. They gave everything they had," Garner said. "You have to give Tennessee State credit. They really hit some big shots, some really tough shots every time it looked like we might pull away.

"A few times the shot clock would be down to two or three seconds and we were all over them but they still hit the shot. They really kept their composure."

Bud Eley and White both scored 21 points to lead the Indians, who shot 44 percent from the field (27 of 61). Also in double figures were Kahn Cotton with 12 points and Montgomery with 11. Eley had eight rebounds while Cotton contributed seven assists.

Freshman Jamie Roberts paced TSU with 20 points. He was followed by Samuel with 17, Huber with 16 and Jason Johnson with 15. Johnson also grabbed nine rebounds. The Tigers shot 51 percent (31 of 61) and were nine of 19 (47 percent) on 3-pointers, led by Huber (four of six) and Samuel (three of six).

The Indians led by 12 points late in the first half before settling for a 32-27 halftime edge.

Southeast opened up a 40-29 lead early in the second half but a 22-5 TSU run gave the Tigers a 51-45 lead with under 10 minutes left.

The Indians were able to regain the lead late, but they never could go ahead by more than two points.

Roberts hit a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left to put TSU ahead 66-63. But Cotton drilled a 23-footer with a hand in his face with three seconds left for a 66-66 tie. It was on to overtime.

Southeast grabbed a 74-69 lead less than two minutes into the five-minute extra period on Cotton's 3-pointer.

But Eley, the Indians' senior center who dominated the inside most of the night, fouled out with 3:06 left, which helped the Tigers claw back.

The Indians still appeared to be in good shape on Montgomery's basket that made it 77-73 with 1:28 left.

But Samuel's 3-pointer at the 1:17 mark pulled TSU within 77-76.

Cotton missed a driving layup, but Demetrius Watson grabbed a huge rebound with about 40 seconds left, giving the Indians a chance to milk the clock before attempting a shot.

They were in the process of doing that when they turned the ball over, leading to Huber's heroics.